Random Entry: THE WAR - on PBS September 23
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< Mr. Winkle Goes to War (1944) | Once Upon a Honeymoon (1942) >
Sahara (1943)
Tanks, desert, combat, Bogart.... put those all together and what do you get? The unbelievable picture that is Sahara. It pits tank commander Sgt. Joe Gunn (Humphrey Bogart) against the desert, and against the Nazi Afrika Corps in a battle for survival, with a bit of a twist ending that you won't see coming.Gunn's (what a name) tank, "Lulubelle," gets separated from the rest of his unit, and on top of that, gets the order to retreat from the present situation. The cold fact is there's no where to retreat to, except to go even further inland, running low on fuel, and more importantly... water.
Along the way he runs into a stranded group of British doctor types (why are there always British doctor types in these desert war pictures?!) and they join Gunn on his quest for water. They manage to assemble an even more motley gang, as they run across a Sudanese national with an Italian prisoner. They first leave the Italian behind, but conscience gets the better of them and they stop and take him with.
To complicate matters even more, they're shot at by a wayward German airplane, which they shoot down, and take the pilot prisoner. According to the Sudanese soldier, there are places to get water, you just have to know where to look. So they follow his directions, and come across the first. Dry as a bone. The only solution: continue on!
Nearly destroying the tank in the process, they manage to find an outpost with a well, but, you guessed it, it's also dry. Well, nearly anyway. The strange group collects some of the dripping water and take up residence, figuring out what to do next.
Then the real fun begins, as a column of German infantry has tracked them to this location. They see them coming, and decide rather than return to their units, to occupy the Germans long enough for reinforcements to arrive. They send one of the Americans off into the desert to find somebody to help them.
Well, the Germans aren't aware of just how few of the band there are, or that there is no water to speak of. So the fighting rages on, with the handful of Allied soldiers holding their ground, being whittled down to just Gunn and one other. There are moments of negotiation, and in the end the Germans surrender, to the surprise of Gunn and his comrade. "Help yourself!" yells Gunn.....
Of course what happens next, you'll just have to see for yourself.
In this picture, Bogart does what he does best: Play the gruff macho man. His monotone, short delivery is everything its cracked up to be and more. The rest of the cast does OK, but is plainly outdone by Bogey.
Honestly this is a perfect example of your classic war movie. Bogart. That's about all you need to know, really. Put Sahara up on the shelf next to "Sands of Iwo Jima" et. al. in the WarMovieBlog gold collection!!!
Technorati Tags: war movie review, sahara, 1943, humphrey bogart, afrika corps, north africa, world war ii 2, classics
To complicate matters even more, they're shot at by a wayward German airplane, which they shoot down, and take the pilot prisoner. According to the Sudanese soldier, there are places to get water, you just have to know where to look. So they follow his directions, and come across the first. Dry as a bone. The only solution: continue on!
Nearly destroying the tank in the process, they manage to find an outpost with a well, but, you guessed it, it's also dry. Well, nearly anyway. The strange group collects some of the dripping water and take up residence, figuring out what to do next.
Then the real fun begins, as a column of German infantry has tracked them to this location. They see them coming, and decide rather than return to their units, to occupy the Germans long enough for reinforcements to arrive. They send one of the Americans off into the desert to find somebody to help them.
Well, the Germans aren't aware of just how few of the band there are, or that there is no water to speak of. So the fighting rages on, with the handful of Allied soldiers holding their ground, being whittled down to just Gunn and one other. There are moments of negotiation, and in the end the Germans surrender, to the surprise of Gunn and his comrade. "Help yourself!" yells Gunn.....
Of course what happens next, you'll just have to see for yourself.
In this picture, Bogart does what he does best: Play the gruff macho man. His monotone, short delivery is everything its cracked up to be and more. The rest of the cast does OK, but is plainly outdone by Bogey.
Honestly this is a perfect example of your classic war movie. Bogart. That's about all you need to know, really. Put Sahara up on the shelf next to "Sands of Iwo Jima" et. al. in the WarMovieBlog gold collection!!!
Technorati Tags: war movie review, sahara, 1943, humphrey bogart, afrika corps, north africa, world war ii 2, classics
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